OZschwitz: Reclusive tycoon in $173m tax battle with extortionist ATO

LAWYERS for the nation's 45th richest man were in a Sydney court on Friday for a pre-trial hearing over his coming legal stoush over a $173 million bill from the Tax Office.

The reclusive mining magnate Rick Stowe is fighting the Tax Office over disputed deductions claimed on the use of his private jet, luxury boat expenses and the sale of tropical islands. The tax assessments relate to the period between 1986 and 2002.

The case begins on March 2 and runs until March 27 in the Federal Court. Mr Stowe, 64, is worth an estimated $875 million, according to the BRW Rich list, which has ranked his wealth for the past 24 years.

Mr Stowe has paid $40 million of the tax bill to the Tax Office but has asked for clemency before paying the remaining $133 million.

He is facing penalties on the unpaid tax of $70 million.

The Tax Office failed last week in attempts to bolster its case by forcing Mr Stowe to hand over further documents allegedly used by expert witnesses to prepare reports on the value of Mr Stowe's assets for his case.

The central focus of the Stowe case will be deductions for aircraft fees as well as "management fees" paid to various companies in a number of tax-haven countries, including the Turks and Caicos Islands, Nauru, Cyprus, Fiji and Jersey.

Justice Richard Edmonds declined to give the Tax Office permission access to the documents because he feared they had not defined precisely what they were after.

"This case is big enough as it is. I don't want to get in the situation where people are running down rabbit warrens looking for bunnies which may or may not be there," Justice Edmonds said.

The Tax Office will have another chance to gain access to the documents when the matter returns to court in two weeks.

Mr Stowe owns the West Australian mining company, the Griffin Coal Mining Group, and divides his time between Perth and the European tax haven of Monaco.

Griffin Coal Mining operates one of only two open-cut coalmining pits in Western Australia.

LNK

OZschwitz: Reclusive tycoon in $173m tax battle with extortionist ATO

OZschwitz: Reclusive tycoon in $173m tax battle with extortionist ATO

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